N.J. mandates dog census, but many towns don't obey

David Gard/For The Star-LedgerTyler, a female Rotweiller, cools down in a kiddie pool at the dog park in Randolph, one of the Morris County towns that conducted a dog census.

Dogs don’t pay taxes, they don’t hold jobs and they don’t vote. Still, state law requires man’s best friend to be tallied every other year in a dog census.

But in the age of the incredible shrinking municipal budget, some leaders are questioning the utility of the state-mandated count — especially when many towns don’t comply.

Last week, Monmouth County Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande introduced a bill that would repeal the 69-year-old law, first passed to control rabies prevalent in feral dogs.

“Most local officials cannot justify this expense to property taxpayers and state government does not have the resources to enforce it,” Casagrande said in a statement.

Only 91 towns completed a dog census in 2008, and 81 did the count in 2009.
Florham Park was one of them, hiring two college students to go door-to-door to every house without a registered animal, said Marlene Rawson, secretary for the board of health. The workers looked for signs of an animal in the household and handed out registrations to the owners.

Last year, 250 unregistered dogs were identified in the census, bringing the total number of registered animals to 1,050. But the process didn’t end once the canvassers were finished: Rawson said she had to spend months after sending letters to violators, contacting the building inspector and, in some cases, issuing summonses.

“It’s an enormous undertaking, believe me,” Rawson said. “If no one’s chasing you for it, I can see why you might let it slip.”

Colin Campbell, the deputy state public health veterinarian, said dog tallies generally identify about 10,000 unlicensed dogs each year. That’s not a huge percentage of the 500,000 dogs owned statewide, he admitted.

“But every little bit helps,” he said.

Florham Park conducted its biennial dog census last year,

Some towns have eschewed the typical door-knocking style for cheaper, faster methods.

“We don’t do the door-to-door anymore,” said Nancy Raymond, the registrar of Clark Township, where 861 dogs and 168 cats are licensed. “It’s impractical.”

Instead, the township prints out a list of dogs licensed in the township from the previous year and compares it with the current year’s list of licensed dogs. The township sends out notices to dog owners who have not re-registered.

“Most people comply,” Raymond said.

In Lebanon Township, a municipal employee pays a visit to each new homeowner in town to see if the new resident owns a dog. Long Hill Township in Morris County uses its youth volunteer law enforcement group to conduct the census.

Sayreville Business Administrator Jeff Bertrand said he’s looking for a similar kind of volunteer group to complete the census — with nonstop budget concerns, the borough has gone several years without a dog census.

Alexandria Township in Hunterdon County is conducting its dog census, its first in seven years.

“It was something we needed to do,” Township Clerk Cathy Reese said.

The township hired Traci Fleming, the Kingwood animal control officer, to go door-to-door throughout the 28-square-mile town to houses without licensed dogs.
Fleming has been knocking on doors since March, and Reese said she doesn’t expect her to be done until August.

Despite the time commitment, Reese said the township takes the census very seriously. In a county with many animals, domesticated and wild, officials see the census as an important tool to control rabies outbreaks.

“This is to protect not only the community, but the animals,” Reese said. “We all love our animals here.”